Had the governor signed the bill, taxes on these beverages would have gone from 9 cents a gallon to $1.50 a gallon. (The alluring-to-teenagers drinks are taxed now as beer - not as distilled spirits.) Attorney General Gansler and others suggested alcopops might be put in taxing category of their own, above beer but below distilled spirits.
The prospect of higher taxes was no doubt deeply shocking to the alcohol industry, which has escaped tax increases since 1955 in the case of liquor and, for beer and wine, since 1972. It should be pointed out that the proposed tax increases might have seemed risky to the governor and to the legislators because they would be passed on to the consumers.
Tax increases? That's one issue, but there's also the matter of public health. Cigarette taxes were increased over the last few years as a way to reduce teen smoking.
No one in public office is suggesting that Maryland raise taxes on these drinks as a public health measure - though that might be a good idea. But the industry should, at the very least, pay its way. To have been exempt from tax increases for decades is a gaudy display of power fortified by campaign contributions. Alcohol interests gave Maryland lawmakers, state and local, $2.8 million since 1998. Another $2 million was spent on lobbyists from 2002 to 2007.
So add money to the list of factors making it difficult to govern in concert with your own values and the best interests of your state.
Voters, too, have a responsibility in matters of this sort. Alcohol interests may have influence, but the ultimate leverage is wielded at the polls - including the public opinion polls that lead leaders to choose higher ratings over the lives of young people.
C. Fraser Smith is senior news analyst for WYPR-FM. His column appears Sundays in The Sun. His e-mail is fsmith@wypr.org.
